


In Medias Res (Fictober 2019)

by eadreytheiptscray



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2020-11-08 16:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 7,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eadreytheiptscray/pseuds/eadreytheiptscray
Summary: A collection of tender moments between Raleigh and Mako that we never got to see on screen.Here's alist of all chapters in chronological order.





	1. Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> These chapters aren't chronological. Some take place during the events of "Pacific Rim," and others don't. Here's a [list of all chapters in chronological order](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50888761#chapter_31_endnotes).
> 
> I'm experimenting with writing one-shots in 24 hours. I'll update the tags as I go, but expect nothing graphic.
> 
> While not every chapter is happy, each chapter ends on a positive note, because our heroes have been through enough.

"It will be fun, trust me."

Mako wrinkled her nose at the book she was reading (staring at, if she was being honest). She didn't look up from the page. "Jägerbombs?"

"Tradition," Raleigh explained.

She flipped the page. "No, thank you." She sensed a "why?" hanging in the air and answered Raleigh's unspoken question: "Too many people."

There was more to it than that. She knew that he knew it. They'd shared headspace; they probably still did. The Neural Handshake might have lost its grip, but the feeling of melding their minds still lingered. Nothing escaped Raleigh's notice anymore, not when it came to her.

"Okay." He didn't move from her doorway. But with nothing else to say, and enough sense to know he couldn't change her mind, he didn't stay there long. The door _clanked_ behind him.

Mako sighed and slumped onto her bed. _For my family!_ echoed in her ears. If she had closed her eyes, she probably would have seen her jaeger's blade arc through the air and return iridescent blue into its sheath.

Two kaiju kills had come at a steep price, though. Death had soured the taste of victory.

She would never fault Raleigh for wanting to celebrate their kaiju kills. He'd likely come to terms with it the first time around. Death was nothing new to veteran jaeger pilots. Mako had seen some of the ways that he, his brother, and their fellow pilots would mourn the fallen.

Mako understood tradition. She just couldn't bring herself to participate in a ritual that she hadn't made her own yet.

She couldn't remember shutting her eyes, but they fluttered open when she heard the knock at her door. A sheepish grin accompanied the two mismatching drinks in Raleigh's hand.

"Tendo's concoctions." He handed her the drink in his left hand. "The Crimson Typhoon." Raising the glass in his right hand, he said, "the Cherno Alpha."

She returned his somber smile, then she motioned him inside. "Then we drink to their memory."


	2. Out With the Old, In With the New

Tokyo was buzzing with neon lights and excited crowds. The PPDC press conference—broadcast live for the world to see—had stirred up dormant feelings in everyone who saw it. Hope radiated like the glowing skyline: The kaiju were gone for good.

The press conference had sparked something else in its subjects: exhaustion, elation, or heartache, or some combination of the three.

Elation had hit Mako and Raleigh simultaneously, which is why, half an hour after the press conference, they found themselves darting through the streets with grins on their faces.

Heartache was a solid wall Mako didn't see coming. How was she to know the labyrinth of streets would spit her out into the alley where Tokyo's Daughter was born?

Exhaustion, then, when Raleigh grabbed her hand. He had limped with 5-year-old Mako down the broken street, had been deafened by Onibaba's roar, and had been blinded by Coyote Tango's searchlights. He didn't need to be inside Mako's mind now to know what she was thinking about.

The street had been paved smooth in the passing years, but the city had yet to grow up around it. An idea sprouted in Raleigh's mind.

"Is there a park nearby?" His intention was to pull Mako back to the present. But stargazing on a blanket of grass sounded amazing.

Mako gave a firm nod, and she was 21 years old again. "Just follow me. I know the area."

Their quest to find a pocket of peace and quiet took them past a foodie's paradise. Raleigh's growling stomach stopped them in their tracks. A little detour couldn't hurt.

They returned to the path a few minutes later with steaming take-out containers in their hands. They passed the glass skyscraper that young Mako had thought was a tower of cards. They passed the shopping center where her mother had bought those now-famous red shoes. And then, a few blocks away, they found the park where Mako and her mother had spent the day while her father was in the hospital.

A few lamps bathed the park in soft white light. Mako and Raleigh eyed the vacant bench hidden in the shadows and strode toward it in step.

The trees around them blocked out most of the city noise. After listening to clicking camera shutters and chatty reporters all day, it was a welcome silence. They feasted without breaking it.

Tokyo might have been ready to welcome spring, but winter's chill wasn't saying goodbye just yet. Mako shivered and scooted closer to Raleigh, wrapping her right arm around his waist. He draped his left arm around her shoulders in response. Light danced in his eyes as he smiled down at his co-pilot.

That night, Mako went to sleep dreaming of Tokyo, though not always of red shoes and kaiju blue. Hope and the promise of tomorrow came in the form of kaleidoscopic city lights and cerulean eyes.


	3. Never Eat the Fish

Raleigh wiped yesterday's dinner off his face with the back of a shaky hand. "You were right," he muttered. "Never eat the fish."

Mako sighed. "Now? Now you listen to me?"

Raleigh grimaced and leaned over the toilet bowl. Once the latest wave of nausea passed, he added, "in my defense, it didn't taste bad."

"That doesn't mean it's not tainted with Kaiju Blue."

Fish was all he'd eaten besides rations while working on the Wall. Granted, they'd all been freshwater fish he'd caught himself, in waters untouched by kaiju. But the ocean was so big—surely all the Kaiju Blue near Hong Kong had been cleaned up or washed away, right?

"Not around this batch, I guess," Mako said.

Raleigh stuck his head in the toilet bowl again.


	4. Get Your Own

_Knock, knock, knock_

Raleigh knew Mako well enough by now to recognize the muted movements from behind her closed door. There was a shuffle (she was setting aside paperwork), a squeak (she was rising from her desk), and a clank (she was unlocking the reinforced door).

Her confused look deepened when he handed her a lumpy brown package.

"I know you didn't ask for this. But I got something for you."

She tore at the paper. Tan scraps fell like snowflakes around her feet.

"Because you're always stealing mine," he explained as she stared at the forest green sweater in her hands.

"It's the same one?"

He nodded. Raleigh almost tripped down the stairs when Mako tackled him into a bear hug.

"Thank you!" She muttered into his sweater—the same forest green as the one in her hands. "I love it. But this won't stop me from stealing your sweaters. They smell like you."

"Well, in that case…"

Raleigh ignored Mako's protests as he plucked the sweater out of her hands, stalked back to his room, and rummaged around in his closet. Only when he pulled out a spare hanger did Mako realize what he was doing.

"There," Raleigh said, admiring the sliver of green among all the navy, gray, and black. Mako was grinning when he turned around. "Problem solved."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene was inspired by the popular headcanon of Raleigh owning an impressive number of sweaters (and a piece of fanart that I can't find in my Tumblr archive at the moment).


	5. Raising the Stakes

"I might just kiss you." The instant those words left his mouth, Raleigh wanted them back.

Their first press conference was less than 24 hours away. Tomorrow morning, reporters starved for stories since Operation Pitfall would descend on Hong Kong Shatterdome. Raleigh was no stranger to the press—he knew they could sniff out drama like a shark could sniff out blood. The last thing he and Mako needed was to fuel rumors of a post-apocalyptic love story. Especially if only one of the pair was love-struck.

He cursed his horrible timing. Again.

Mako lowered her hanbō. He couldn't read her expression. Was she coming up with an excuse to leave the Kwoon? Was she reading his mind, agreeing with all of his thoughts?

It was one thing to acknowledge something in the Drift—they'd done that plenty. It was quite another to talk about what they'd seen. And so far, they hadn't done much of that.

(Well, who had time when skyscraper-sized monsters kept crawling out of the Breach?)

"I might just let you," she said.

Raleigh blinked. "What—really?"

Mako grinned mischievously. "_If_ you can beat me." She brandished her hanbō.

The stakes had been high at their first sparring match in the Kwoon, but they were nothing compared to the outcome of this private match.

"You're on," Raleigh said.


	6. The Ones Who Love Us Never Really Leave Us

Raleigh took his time getting ready for the Neural Handshake test. For a blissful half-hour, he had thought that maybe this mission wouldn't be all doom and gloom. He and Mako had practically Drifted right there in the Kwoon.

But that wasn't good enough for Pentecost, apparently—what was his problem?

_I don't think we'll ever find out_, Yancy chuckled darkly.

Raleigh didn't respond. Tendo's announcement, at least, gave him an excuse.

_Still ignoring me, Rals?_

He focused on locking the door to his quarters and then on what he wanted to say to Mako. He wasn't going to the Drivesuit Room without—

_'It's not obedience, Mr. Becket. It's respect.'_ Mako's words came back to him just as he was about to knock on her door.

_That's right_. For whatever reason, she would rather sacrifice her dreams than her allegiance to the Marshal. Didn't she know this would be her last chance to pilot a jaeger?

_Guess it was too much to hope for a compatible co-pilot_, Raleigh grumbled as he left her doorstep.

_No, Rals, you were right: You and Mako are Drift Compatible. Pentecost would be an idiot not to see it._

Raleigh almost smirked. Maybe it would be nice to reconnect with his big brother in the Drift. He'd been hearing Yancy's voice in his head for the last five-and-a-half years; it was about time he saw his brother outside his nightmares.

But on the other hand…

Yancy, as usual, wasn't afraid to hit that pressure point. _You ready for this? It'll be your first Drift since—_

Raleigh huffed. _Yes, I'm aware. Your point?_ He'd been trying not to think about his last Drift since he saw Pentecost step out of that helicopter in Alaska.

_Don't chase the RABIT, Rals._

* * *

Raleigh's annoyance dissolved when he heard Mako's voice from the right side rig—_so Pentecost is letting her pilot, after all_—but his apprehension lingered.

She was about to step into his head. Could she handle his memories? What would she think of Yancy? Would she get sucked under the maelstrom that had been churning since Yancy was ripped from his mind?

Raleigh found himself repeating Yancy's words just before Tendo initiated the Neural Handshake: "Don't chase the RABIT."

They weren't necessarily for Mako's benefit.

* * *

The night after Operation Pitfall, Mako was shaking—not just from the radiation sickness that was starting to take hold. Raleigh could hear Pentecost's final words echoing in her mind.

"He was right," Raleigh murmured, wrapping an arm around his co-pilot. "Once you Drift with someone, they never really leave you."

"Like Yancy?" She asked quietly.

Raleigh nodded. He pulled her closer as she curled up next to him on the double-wide hospital bed. Her shaking turned to sobbing, and then she was still—asleep, for now.  
  
_You'll be okay_, Yancy said to Raleigh. And, because Mako was still Ghost Drifting, she heard him, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a big fan of the Ghost Drifting concept, especially when actual ghosts are involved. (I've used it before in my novel-length Pacific Rim series, [A Rare Thing, Indeed](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1171514).)
> 
> The chapter title is a quote from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I thought fit perfectly for this scene.


	7. Not Meant to Be

_'If we had more time.'_

Pentecost's words rang in Mako's ears as she tried to fall asleep. To anyone else, those five words held opportunity. Mako knew her Sensei, though, so she knew he meant otherwise: _No, and that's final._

Couldn't Sensei see that Raleigh Becket was ill-suited for Operation Pitfall? The man had left the PPDC five-and-a-half years ago. Tragedy and grief had changed him. The PPDC had changed without him. Becket might have known his jaeger, but that was before Mako had reconstructed Lady Danger from the wreckage he'd hauled ashore.

_'Vengeance is like an open wound. You cannot take that level of emotion into the Drift.'_

That's when Mako knew Sensei was masking his true intentions. It had taken all her willpower to keep her answer to herself: _And what level of emotion would Becket take into it?_

It was one thing to be sidelined by superiors who didn't recognize her achievements. But Sensei knew how diligently she trained, even encouraged her along the way. She had excelled as a J-Tech, so much so that Sensei had challenged her to lead the Mark III Restoration Project. She had excelled in the Jaeger Academy—even Becket had praised her combat simulation record.

Her training had sharpened her like a sword. But Sensei was keeping her in her sheath—and soon the war would be over. What would be her purpose then?

Mako sighed and tried to push those frustrations aside. She was her father's daughter, and she would respect his decision, no matter how unhappy it made her. She owed him her life; loyalty was the least she could give him in return.

Little did she know what the next 24 hours would bring.


	8. Picking Up the Pieces

Those precious moments of privacy—dripping wet in the middle of the ocean, adrift on a single escape pod—were the last Mako and Raleigh would get for a while.

On the flight back to the Shatterdome, medics stuck sensors on their fingers and thermometers in their mouths in the name of checking vitals. In the med bay, doctors whisked them into separate decompression chambers, then into a double-wide hospital bed. Med techs were at their sides through the blood transfusions and experimental medicine regimen.

There was an analog clock in the room to give them a sense of a day's progression. But without a war clock to put temporal distance between then and the last kaiju attack, they had no way of knowing how long they'd been in the med bay. Weeks? Months?

After the first three days (Raleigh stopped counting when radiation sickness began to take hold), they received few visitors. Tendo would check in once in a while; he had a mountain of paperwork to fill out and LOCCENT duties to wrap up. Herc stopped by only a couple of times; he was staggering under the weight of being Marshal and losing his son and old friend in the same day.

In the constant chaos after Operation Pitfall, Raleigh and Mako stuck together out of necessity. They took turns anchoring each other through the waves of nausea, grief, and discomfort from disconnecting minds.

Finally, finally, they were cleared. Gripping each other's hands tightly, they shuffled down the silent halls toward their quarters. In limbo between their safe spaces, they paused.

Privacy was calling—if there was such a thing among jaeger pilots. Raleigh was intent on taking a proper shower and sleeping in a proper bed. Mako, who'd been fighting a losing battle against anger and grief with the loss of her Sensei, needed space to just be.

Raleigh let go of Mako's hand; she took two steps toward her room before snatching his hand back.

"Can you stay?" She whispered—any louder, and her fragile composure would shatter. He nodded.

She waited patiently while he took a shower and changed into a baggy sweater and jeans. (After spending so much time in a constricting Drivesuit, Raleigh wasn't keen on wearing anything form-fitting.) Then, they burrowed under blankets and leaned on soft pillows, hoping to shake the sensation of the cold, uncomfortable hospital room they'd just left.

It would be some time before Mako returned to her room. There were too many memories there in the form of trinkets and books from her Sensei. For now, she was content to pick up the pieces of a future she had discarded long ago.


	9. Bitter Memories

A week into the press tour, Raleigh became more subdued. Anyone who hadn't been in his head probably never guessed something was up. Even Tendo, who had known Raleigh well before he lost his brother, didn't notice the subtle signs that he was withdrawing.

Mako did.

She saw his jaw twitch during the press conference in Vladivostok. She watched him tense as they passed a wharf full of fishing boats in Anchorage. After the third time—when she saw Raleigh grimace at the mention of the Los Angeles Shatterdome—she decided to pry.

"It's February," he explained once they were alone on the hotel rooftop that night.

_And everything reminds you of Yancy_. Mako nodded, laying a hand on his shoulder. "How are you feeling now?"

"Could be better," he admitted. "I can't believe it's been six years."

He made a face again—like he'd just eaten something unexpectedly sour.

"What is it?"

Raleigh leaned against the balcony wall, gazing out at the city. "The moment Knifehead…" He trailed off, but Mako could sense what he was thinking about. "There's a certain taste to it."

The memory was vivid in her mind. The air had tasted of molten metal, plasma, salt, and burnt seafood. She took a sip of her drink to wash down the bile rising in her throat.

A gleeful shout startled them out of their thoughts. Several stories below, Tendo and a few of the senior LOCCENT officers were sauntering down the street toward the neon signs of nightlife.

"We don't have to go exploring," Mako said, thinking back to all the sightseeing invitations Raleigh had reluctantly accepted over the past week. "I'm content to just stick around the hotel."

Raleigh wrapped an arm around his co-pilot's shoulders, and they settled in comfortable silence. They spent the rest of the evening just staring at the colorful skyline, trying their best to create sweet memories in the midst of bitter reminiscing.


	10. Chasing a Lead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor spoilers for "Pacific Rim: Uprising" ahead.

Losing Sensei had been hard enough. Settling his affairs… well, Mako was still doing it a few years after he'd passed.

She'd taken care of the finances right away. Sorting through his personal effects took time, mainly because she still felt so raw with grief. One day, she overwhelmed herself by glancing at his meticulously organized files.

She meant to look through those files a few weeks later. Well, weeks turned to months. Two and a half years had passed before she knew it.

Finally, on a rainy afternoon in June, she pulled out the files in the dust-covered folder. She looked at the one marked "Mako Mori Pentecost" first. It contained all the items she expected—her birth certificate, adoption records, medical history, and a few academic awards—along with mementos from her childhood.

While Raleigh went to search for frames for the family photos she'd discovered, Mako steeled herself to go through Jake's file.

A yellowing piece of notebook paper caught her eye. To anyone who didn't know Stacker Pentecost, it would look like a bucket list of cities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, and dates of vacations to those destinations:

<strike>Kodiak Island - Feb. 2024</strike>  
<strike>Anchorage - Feb. 2024</strike>  
<strike>Juneau - March 2024</strike>  
<strike>Seattle - April 2024</strike>  
<strike>Portland - June 2024</strike>  
<strike>Sacramento - July 2024</strike>  
<strike>San Jose - July 2024</strike>  
<strike>Bakersfield - July 2024</strike>  
<strike>Santa Monica - August 2024</strike>  
Malibu - Jan. 2025

The word "Malibu" was circled in red.

Mako sprung up from the living room floor and dashed into the kitchen to grab her tablet. Raleigh was there already, pouring himself a cup of tea.

"I'm going to Malibu," she said, sliding the piece of paper across the kitchen island.

Raleigh raised an eyebrow. "What's there?"

"Maybe Jake." Had she not been hunched over the tablet looking up plane tickets, she would have seen Raleigh abandon his tea on the counter and move to her side.

"Mako."

The way he said her name, so softly and full of concern, made some of the agitation melt away. She took a deep breath and waited for what he was going to say next.

"This list is five years old. Jake might not even be in California anymore."

"Listen, I can’t explain it. You’ll have to trust me. Please don't try to talk me out of—"

"I'm not." He reached out and squeezed her hand. "You're booking two plane tickets, right?"

Mako abandoned the tablet and stepped toward him; he pulled her into a tight hug.

"I love you," she muttered into his T-shirt. "And yes, I'm getting two tickets. When do you want to leave?"

"I have no plans," Raleigh chuckled as he kissed the top of his wife's forehead. "How about this weekend?"

"This weekend sounds perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all intents and purposes, "Pacific Rim: Uprising" isn't canon in my Fictober series.
> 
> That being said, I pulled inspiration from that movie to create a timeline of Jake Pentecost's whereabouts after leaving the PPDC. I also condensed the timeline between "Pacific Rim" and the sequel so Jake would still be in his teens.


	11. Touch

Mako almost threw up when the Neural Handshake broke.

_Nausea is a side effect of Drifting_—that was one of many lessons drilled into her at the Jaeger Academy. But no lecture could prepare her for reality. Her insides and head were swimming.

Raleigh was at her side in an instant. "Mako? You okay?"

Her mind felt like a glass of water half-emptied in a hurry—her thoughts were sloshing around without Raleigh's to fill her headspace. She tried to explain, _no, we just fought two kaiju and almost fell to our deaths_, but she couldn't form the words. Panic rose in her throat.

Raleigh's arm around her shoulder anchored her in the moment.

* * *

When the strike team arrived, they found Raleigh and Mako huddled together inside the Conn-Pod. Mako climbed out first, where she was helped into the rescue basket and into the helicopter hovering overhead. Only when she was strapped into her seat did she realize how much her skin was crawling.

_What's happening?_ She wondered in a panic.

_Velcroing_. That was Raleigh's voice. It was faint, but it was clear. _Don't worry, it happens to every pilot._

She relaxed when he climbed into the helicopter, but the skin-crawling feeling didn't subside until he squeezed into the seat beside her. She clung to his hand like her life depended on it.

"It's normal after long Drifts," he said. "Outside headspace, pilots find, uh, other ways to stay connected."

That was a terrifying thought. Mako had always been more reserved compared with her peers. Being raised by Stacker Pentecost might have had something to do with it. The sudden, excruciating need for touch was overwhelming.

"It's not always like this," Raleigh continued, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "Velcroing eventually wears off—give it a couple of hours, and you'll feel normal again."

Mako squeezed his hand so tightly that she cut off circulation to her own fingers. "Promise?" She asked through gritted teeth.

He nodded. "You'll be okay."


	12. From Nobodies to Outcasts

Raleigh had had rough Drifts before; none compared with his and Mako's first. The aftermath, the collective shunning from the entire Shatterdome, was worse.

Ghosting with Mako was only slightly less intense than actually Drifting. Whatever she thought, Raleigh could hear loud and clear.

_That was my only shot_, Mako lamented. _And I failed._

_You didn't_, Raleigh answered. She wouldn't meet his gaze; when they reached Pentecost's office—where Chuck was railing about their failure as co-pilots—she fixed her gaze on the concrete wall ahead of her.

_I chased the RABIT_, she argued. _Because of me, the Shatterdome was almost destroyed._

"What if I don't see it that way?"

Mako finally glanced at him, but she remained rooted to the spot. "The Marshal's word is law. There will be nothing to talk about." Inwardly, though, she said, _but thank you for standing up for me_.


	13. The Comfort of Being Known

The jaeger repair bay was the perfect place to reflect. J-Tech activity surprisingly made for pleasant background noise. In the pseudo-silence, Mako said, "I never knew it could be this way."

"Hm?" Raleigh pulled his gaze away from Lady Danger's exposed heart.

"Drifting," she clarified. "Being so close to a stranger—we just met, but I know everything about you now. And… you know everything about me."

She couldn't help it; her first thought was, _will he use my own memories against me?_ But that thought gave way to one that was louder, more confident: _No. Strong Drifts are built on trust_.

"This is new for me, too," Raleigh admitted. "With Yancy, it was different. He and I are—were—family. We don't have those family ties." A soft smile lit up his face. "But if your experience was anything like mine, you don't want to walk away from this."

Mako had to admit, the emotional intimacy was refreshing. Pleasant, even. For so long, she had let people come and go without fuss. With the exception of Sensei, vengeance was the only thing that mattered to her. Now…

_I'm not giving up my ambitions, _she decided. But maybe she now had someone to help her chase those goals.

From the eager smile on Raleigh's face, that was exactly what he wanted to do.


	14. This Could Be Home Again, Someday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between vacations and colds, I've been too busy to write every day. I'm doing my best to catch up. :)

The North American leg of the press tour took them to Anchorage. It wasn't surprising; Anchorage had been home to The Icebox—one of the more prominent Shatterdomes, since it had been the one closest to the Jaeger Academy.

And because, well…

Raleigh couldn't help it; he found himself scanning every wharf they passed for the _Saltchuck_. 

Anchorage should have been his favorite stop, considering it had been home once upon a time. Not anymore. Not when every wharf, shoreline, and cloudy sky was stained with memories of Yancy and Knifehead and the dangerously reckless Ranger that Raleigh used to be.

_You're awful quiet_, Yancy told him. Raleigh could almost picture his older brother crossing his arms and frowning down at him.

_This is more painful than I thought it'd be,_ he admitted._ I can't come back. Not soon, at least._

He ripped his gaze away from the wharf, and he found Mako looking at him curiously. He squeezed her hand; they both smiled sadly.

_Maybe someday,_ he decided, if_ it ever feels like home again._


	15. We're Pilots Now

_That's what I'm talking about!_ Raleigh wanted to shout, but he kept his mouth shut among the tense crowd in LOCCENT. _It's about time Pentecost sent us in the field._

Beside him, Mako was staring straight ahead, her stride even with Raleigh's. It was an intimidating look.

Raleigh had only been in her head once, but it had been long enough to know that her determination was masking her fear. And he knew he'd have a hard time getting through to her now.

He waited until they were suited up to say anything. 

"You've trained for this," he reminded her. "Fifty-one drops, fifty-one kills."

She glanced at him, and a small smile cracked her hard expression. She didn't need to respond; in a few minutes, they would be in each other's heads again. Battling real demons, but this time on their level.

Raleigh was looking forward to this.


	16. White Noise

Mako closed her eyes and stopped swinging her feet against the landing. This was what she loved most about the jaeger repair bays—that the noise breathed life into the space.

"What are you doing?" Raleigh asked.

"Listening." 

After a few seconds of silence, Raleigh piped up again: "For what?"

"Listen." She opened her eyes to find him squinting at the J-Techs crawling over Lady Danger's hull. "No, really listen. And close your eyes."

He did.

"Do you hear that soft thumping, a few floors below?"

Raleigh wrinkled his nose in concentration, but then he nodded.

"That's the Kaidonovskys' Ukrainian Hard House. How about the thrumming above us?"

He was quick to nod this time. "Jumphawks?" He guessed.

"Correct." Now she joined him in pseudo-meditation, searching for the mundane amid the chaos. "If you listen carefully, you can hear—"

They flinched as the kaiju sighting alarm shrieked throughout the Shatterdome.


	17. Among Royalty

"How're you adjusting, Becket boy?"

Raleigh looked up to see Tendo leaning in his doorway. "Pretty well, I guess. Hong Kong is a bit different from the Icebox."

Tendo nodded, gazing around Raleigh's sparse quarters. He cleared his throat when he spied a few of Raleigh and Yancy's photos tacked to the walls. "Well, it's good to have you back. I've missed seeing you around."

"Thanks, man."

Outside, a door creaked open. Raleigh watched Mako leave her room and strut down the hallway, determination in her gaze and posture. He found Tendo smirking at him when his gaze drifted back.

"I saw you eyeing Miss Mori earlier," Tendo said cheekily. "Were those hearts in your eyes?"

"Har-har." Raleigh rolled his eyes.

Tendo raised an eyebrow. "But you fancy her, right?"

Mako wasn't like anyone Raleigh had ever met. He'd figured that out the second he spied her under that umbrella. There was something regal about her. The way her hair, dyed royal blue, framed her face. The way she held herself, like a queen or a knight, with her shoulders back and eyes that overlooked nothing.

Even Pentecost treated her as an equal.

"There's just something about her," Raleigh said. 

"You're right about that." Tendo glanced at his watch. "Well, duty calls. Don't make me give you the shovel talk, okay? Mako Mori is worth more to the Jaeger Program than you or I could ever know."

And didn't that grab Raleigh's attention.


	18. Passing the Time

There was only so much Raleigh and Mako could do while cooped up in the med bay. So when they got bored—which was often—they talked about stuff they'd seen in each other's Drift memories. And they never ran out of things to talk about.

"Hey, Mako," Raleigh whispered one night. His voice was hoarse after days of dealing with the worst of the radiation sickness. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Secrets?" Mako propped herself up on an elbow to face her co-pilot. "I love secrets."

Raleigh grinned lazily at her through a medication haze. "You can't tell anybody, 'specially Tendo."

"Promise."

"Alright. I learned Japanese as a kid… 'cause of Cowboy Bebop. I thought, 'if Spike Spiegel speaks Japanese, I should, too.'"

Mako snickered. "That's your embarrassing childhood secret?"

"No, but… not many American kids wanna grow up to be anime characters."

"Their loss," Mako murmured, dropping back onto her pillow and staring up at the ceiling. After a few seconds, she said, "you wanna know one of my childhood secrets?"

"Absolutely." 

"I wanted to be a DJ like Towa Tei. Or a Sasuke champion. Or a swordmaker like my father."

A pensive silence settled over their room.

"Well, who said the Moris wouldn't have any more swordmakers?" Raleigh chuckled. "Besides, you're the only person who's made a kaiju-sized sword. I bet every kid wants to grow up to be you now."

Mako grinned, and then her grin faded. "Now that the kaiju are gone, what are us Rangers going to grow up to be?"

"Hey, it's not too late to be a professional athlete or a musician," Raleigh pointed out.

"Or an anime character." Mako's smile was back, and it was the widest Raleigh had seen in a while. "Maybe they'll make an anime about the PPDC."

Raleigh laughed and settled back onto his pillow. "Where do I sign up?"


	19. Bet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place a few days before "Raising the Stakes," not at the same time. (I plan on revisiting this fic and posting the chapters in chronological order... eventually.)

Raleigh stared at the butt end of Mako's hanbō. "Yes, I admit it," he said breathlessly. "You were right."

"I told you to take it easy," she said, helping him off the mat. She, too, felt winded after their short sparring session. "Now to find Tendo." 

"You're not going to tell him the actual score, are you?"

"Oh, I don't need to." Mako winked. "He bet that you wouldn't even score a point."

"Betrayed by a close friend." Raleigh sighed. "Okay, I'm coming with you, if only to beat Tendo up myself."


	20. Grounded

Raleigh had just snapped out of his nightmare when he heard a knock at his door. He stumbled out of bed, fumbled for his warmest sweater in the dark, and squinted as he let light flood his room.

Mako was standing in the doorway. "What was this one about?"

Raleigh closed the door behind them and slumped onto the concrete steps. It was almost too bright out in the hallway, but the constricting darkness of his room was distressingly familiar. "Yancy." He didn't elaborate further.

She gently laid a hand on his shoulder. Could she feel the lump in his throat or hear Yancy's scream in his ears?

He sniffled and wiped his eyes on his sweater sleeve. "It hurts to talk about," he said, answering her unasked question.

Mako nodded. "Would it help if you could talk about it? You know, a therapist might help you work through it. I saw one for years after Onibaba…"

_Maybe_, Raleigh thought. Right now, though, he couldn't think outside the present. Knowing his big brother was gone, knowing he'd already outlived Yancy… the devastation threatened to crush him.

After dealing with nightmares alone for more than five years, he was grateful he now had someone to keep him grounded. 

"Thank you," he managed. Mako smiled sadly, and silence settled over them.


	21. Packing Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little pneumonia can't stop me from writing about my OTP. Now that I've finally recovered, I'm determined to finish this series. 
> 
> The next few chapters will be short, but I plan to revisit them later when I republish this collection as a cohesive story. Enjoy!

Raleigh had take few personal items with him to the Shatterdome. The only non-PPDC clothes he owned filled just half of his rucksack, and the photos on the walls fit in a single pocket. So when it was time to pack up, his quarters hardly looked different.

Mako's room was another story.

Boxes of books towered by the door and spilled out into the hallway. Book spines, trinkets and a child's shoe had left imprints on her dusty bookshelves. Her desk was clear of tinkering projects, and her walls were free of jaeger blueprints.

Raleigh dropped his rucksack on his side of the hallway and joined her in the center of her room.

"Change is annoyingly difficult," she muttered, sniffling.

What was there to say? Raleigh just opened his arms and Mako stepped into his embrace. 


	22. Yes or No?

"You know, Mako, all these years I've spent living in the past… I've never really thought about the future. Until now." Raleigh's sheepish grin reflected in his helmet. "I never did have good timing."

Their Conn-Pod lurched, and they plummeted down to the rest of their jaeger.

No words were needed. Mako got a glimpse of that future as Tendo initiated the Neural Handshake: two place settings at a small table, snow angels in front of a cottage, a black velvet box opening—

_If we have a chance...?_

_Yes_. Mako's answer rings loud and clear through the Drift. 


	23. Confessions

Given time and nurturing, love blooms out of appreciation. Raleigh noticed Mako's concentrated gaze as she reviewed jaeger blueprints with Tendo, and love blossomed. 

She caught him staring as they headed to their last press conference. 

"You look good," was all he said. But he took her hand and didn't let go until they parted ways again, hours after the last reporters had filed out of the conference room. It wasn't until the after party that she found out what changed.

* * *

With commitment as its roots, love weathers adversity. Mako held her grief-stricken co-pilot after a nightmare, this one brought on by yet another birthday Yancy missed. 

"You deserve the world," he said once the worst had passed. "And I can't give that to you right now."

"You can't give more than yourself. Besides, I've made my decision."

Raleigh took a shaky breath. Mako closed her hand around his.

"I'm staying."


	24. The Perfect Gift

"You're hiding something, I know it," Raleigh teased over breakfast.

"Yes," she eventually admitted. "It's your birthday present. But I'm waiting for the right time to give it to you."

"Patience… is not something I'm known for."

"I know." Mako grinned. "This is going to be fun."

Raleigh couldn't tell what he would get tired of first: pestering Mako or waiting for her to cave in. She held silent against his barrage of questions, and he gave up after the drive home from the restaurant.

The sun settled low over the snowy treetops before Mako finally gave him her gift. The package was small yet heavy, wrapped neatly in silver and tied with a navy-blue ribbon. "Happy birthday, Raleigh."

What he found inside made him stop breathing. "Mako… where did you get this?"

"I've been saving it," she said.

A piece of weathered titanium with flaking navy paint sat in a shadowbox. Small lights illuminated every angle. "A piece of her heart," the inscription read.

Raleigh wiped his eyes and hugged her. "Okay, you were right. This… was definitely worth waiting for."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That gift totally wasn't inspired by the arc reactor Pepper Potts gave Tony Stark, no way.


	25. It's a Date

"I could really eat something," Mako mutters, staring at the TV.

"Yeah?" Raleigh's eyes stayed glued to the screen, too. "Where'd you want to go?"

"That's just it… I don't want to move."

"Room service?"

"Perfect." Mako still didn't move.

At the next commercial break, Raleigh broke the silence. "If I order for us, does it count as a date?"

Color flooded Mako's face. Then, she snickered. "Only if you promise to go out with me tomorrow. How does 7 p.m. sound?"

"Did you just… ask _me_ out on a date?"

"Is that a yes?" 

"... Yes." He picked up the hotel phone.


	26. Rescued

Frigid ocean winds chapped Mako's skin and sliced through her drivesuit, and she shivered. Her bulky, waterlogged armor wasn't helping her stay warm. At least heat bloomed where Raleigh sagged into her shoulder. She held him close as the helicopters circled over them.

And then that warmth was gone.

Raleigh was whisked into the helicopter first. Med techs swarmed him as soon as he was within their reach. Mako followed, but the extreme cold seemed to slow time itself. 

If she'd had any energy left, she would've shoved the med techs away. Thankfully, they didn't keep her from Raleigh long.

She slumped beside him, and a med tech draped an orange blanket over their shoulders. A smile crossed her face as she shut her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder.

"What?" He asked. His words rumbled in her ear.

"You keep me warm," she muttered, shuffling closer.


	27. Homecoming

The helicopter touched down at the Shatterdome, jolting Raleigh out of his daydreams and Mako out of her nap.

"We're home," he replied to her wordless question. "I'll get our bags. Can you wait for me?"

Mako nodded, yawning and rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "It's raining," she groaned.

"I'll make a run for it, then."

Soaking wet and toting their luggage behind him, Raleigh squinted around the tarmac for his co-pilot. He spotted her standing under a black umbrella, looking just as regal as the first time he saw her two months earlier.

She lifted the umbrella to shield him from the driving rain.

"Miss Mori."

"Mr. Becket." She grinned and bowed in return.

Unlike that fateful day two months ago, they strode in step across the tarmac, through the doors of the place they now considered home.


	28. Jukebox Hero

"I heard my name." Candlelight flickered across Tendo's face. "What's up?"

"Perfect timing." Mako swiped tears out of her eyes. "Raleigh was just telling me about the epic prank Yancy pulled on you."

"Tendo, what did you say when realized Yancy was catfishing you?"

Tendo sighed and slid into the chair beside them. "So that's how it's going to be, huh?" He took a sip of his cocktail. "Mako, you want to hear a good story about Raleigh here?"

"Why are you even asking?"

Raleigh leaned back in his chair. "Do your worst."

Tendo rubbed his hands together. "So we're out celebrating after Yamarashi: me, Raleigh, and Yancy, rest his soul. Raleigh had just gone back for more drinks, and Yance sees this jukebox over in the corner."

Mako leaned forward.

"Yancy goes, 'got any quarters?' I had a couple, so I hand them over. Now, I'm thinking he's going to pick a classic tune like 'Don't Stop Believing' or 'Dream On.' Little did I know…"

Raleigh's grin faded, and he gulped down his beer.

"So Raleigh comes back just as Yancy picks a song. He comes back with this wicked grin on his face, but before either of us can ask about it, the song comes on."

Raleigh swore under his breath.

"Raleigh turned so red in the face—"

"Shut up, Tendo!"

"No," Mako said, "keep talking!"

"Three words in, Raleigh starts belting out—"

"Enough!" Raleigh jumped to his feet. "I've heard enough."

"What was the song?" Mako pleaded.

"Tendo, I swear—"

"Either I tell her or you do." Tendo sat back with a grin on his face.

Mako rounded on Raleigh. "What was the song?"

Raleigh muttered something into his beer.

"I didn't catch that."

"Fine." He set down his glass. "It was 'Holding Out for a Hero,' okay?"

"The look on everyone's faces…" Tendo chuckled.

"Oh, but here's payback." Raleigh cast a sly look at Tendo. "If we're talking about embarrassing moments, there was this one time we tried karaoke—"

Tendo whirled around. "I thought you said you'd take that story to the grave!"


	29. Fading

Something was wrong, but it wasn't just the alarms blaring and warning lights flashing in the Conn-Pod. Raleigh couldn't feel Mako... 

_No no no no—_

"Oxygen levels at 5%," Lady Danger's computer recited.

_It can't end like this_. He swapped their oxygen lines. Relief flooded through him as he saw Mako's breath fog up her helmet. But her presence was faint in the Drift. Her thoughts were sluggish and quiet.

_It's my choice_, he told her, not sure if she could hear him. _I'm doing this for you._

Aloud, more for LOCCENT's benefit than anything, Raleigh said, "all I have to do is fall. Anyone can fall."


	30. Promise

The announcement didn't come as a shock, not really. Uncertainty filled the Shatterdome, anyway. With no PPDC, where would everyone go? What would they do in a world without kaiju or jaegers to fight them?

Mako felt anchorless. She'd lived in Shatterdomes for as long as she could remember. Most of her life could fit into cardboard boxes and a couple of suitcases. But shifting from a transient to a stable lifestyle wasn't what was worrying her.

She met Raleigh's gaze.

He didn't bring up the subject until they were halfway through dinner.

"What happens now?" His words echoed in Lady Danger's empty repair bay.

"Pack up," Mako sighed. "Look for places to live—"

"That's not what I meant." He glanced away. "What about us?"

She laid a hand over his. He glanced at it, then at her. His eyes shone in the dim lighting.

"I'm with you," Mako said. "You know that, right?"

His relieved smile was all she needed. "Then it sounds like we're on the same page."


	31. Into the Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place right after "[Packing Up](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50858440)."

Former PPDC personnel trickled out of Hong Kong Shatterdome, towing rolling suitcases behind them or carrying heavy packs over their shoulders. 

After lingering in the bay doors, two figures stepped out into the muted morning sunlight. One had a battered rucksack on his back, and the other carried a small suitcase. Their free hands clutched tightly to each other.

At the edge of the Shatterdome, where for years a fence had kept out the general public, they turned back.

"Hard to believe we won't be coming back here again," Raleigh muttered. "Off to the real world…"

Mako set her jaw and glanced toward Hong Kong.

"Nothing to be afraid of." Raleigh squeezed her hand.

"Scared, me?" She mustered a small smile. "We survived five kaiju kills and a trip to an alien world. I think I can handle the real world." 

Raleigh grinned, and they turned toward the city, following the crowd. 

They didn't look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd call my first Fictober challenge a success. Like I said, I'll be turning these drabbles into a cohesive novella soon. My current series ("A Rare Thing, Indeed") is my top project right now.
> 
> If you'd like to read the stories in chronological order, here you go:
> 
> \- [Among Royalty](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50313956)  
\- [Not Meant to Be](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49796786)  
\- [The Ones Who Love Us Never Really Leave Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49759451) (first and second parts)  
\- [From Nobodies to Outcasts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50109503)  
\- [The Comfort of Being Known](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50109671)  
\- [White Noise](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50277428)  
\- [We're Pilots Now](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50276924)  
\- [Touch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49928540)  
\- [Never Eat the Fish](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49675862)  
\- [Yes or No?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50858470)  
\- [Fading](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50888389)  
\- [Rescued](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50888254)  
\- [The Ones Who Love Us Never Really Leave Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49759451) (third part)  
\- [Picking Up the Pieces](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49866491)  
\- [Passing the Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50432417)  
\- [Tradition](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49537451)  
\- [Grounded](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50433818)  
\- [Bet](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50432852)  
\- [Raising the Stakes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49709129)  
\- [Out With the Old, In With the New](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49607873)  
\- [Jukebox Hero](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50888350)  
\- [This Could Be Home Again, Someday](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50276519)  
\- [Bitter Memories](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49892753)  
\- [It's a Date](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50858608)  
\- [Confessions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50858548) (first part)  
\- [Homecoming](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50888275)  
\- [Get Your Own](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49677557)  
\- [Promise](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50888431)  
\- [Packing Up](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50858440)  
\- [Into the Unknown](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50888761)  
\- [Confessions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50858548) (second part)  
\- [The Perfect Gift](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/50858584)  
\- [Chasing a Lead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838449/chapters/49900133)


End file.
